Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
Sen. Marco Rubio has a request for President Barack Obama: Pick up the phone.
Rubio urged Obama to call Guillermo “Coco” Fariñas, a Cuban democracy leader and Sakharov Prize winner, to express support for his hunger strike. Fariñas has been on a hunger strike for 48 days, and has been “hospitalized four times after collapsing and losing consciousness in his home.”
“Fariñas is fighting for freedom for his fellow Cubans, as the daily harassment and repression by the Castro regime has only increased in recent years,” the Miami Republican wrote in a Sept. 6 letter to Obama. “This year, according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights (CCHR), 845 peaceful dissidents were arrested in the month of July, which represents an increase from the previous month when 498 detentions were registered.”
Rubio spoke to Fariñas earlier this summer, telling Fariñas his voice “is very important in this, and it would be a shame to lose your voice and activism, because I honestly don’t know who would replace you.”
In his letter to the president, Rubio said he knows the two men have met in the past. Rubio urged the president to “hear firsthand his account of the deepening repression in Cuba” since the United States has changed its policy toward the island nation.
“I urge you to listen to his demands that the Castro government cease violence against peaceful members of Cuba’s independent civil society, and that you discuss with him how your administration can adjust its policies toward Cuba to bring about measurable gains regarding human rights on the island,” wrote Rubio. “I ask that you convey his demands to the Castro regime and not lose this opportunity to help one of Cuba’s finest freedom fighters.”
Rubio has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration’s efforts to normalize relations with Cuba.
An outspoken critic of the Obama administration may be one of the key ways to describe Rubio, and it’s a position he’s taking to heart this week. Rubio penned an op-ed for the Tampa Bay Times this week, unveiling legislation aimed at stopping ransom payments.
The bill, called “The No Ransom Payment Act, would “forbid any future ransom payments for hostages,” require Iran to return $1.7 billion it received from the Obama administration, and forbid future settlements of “Iranian claims until Iran first pays the more than $55 billion awarded by U.S. courts to American victims of Iranian-backed terror, and to the Americans held hostage by Iran in 1979.”
“Congress has a responsibility to act on this matter. If it does not, it would send a signal to America’s enemies that our government no longer takes seriously its longstanding refusal to pay ransom for hostages,” wrote Rubio in the op-ed. “That’s a disturbing thought. As a senator, I have worked to help many families whose loved ones have been taken hostage by foreign governments or terrorist groups. The No Ransom Payments Act will prevent this president or any future president from paying ransoms and ensure that American victims of Iranian terrorism are paid first, before the regime in Tehran can claim settlements.”
Rubio is running for re-election, and faces Rep. Patrick Murphy in the November general election. The race is expected to be close, and a new Public Policy Polling survey shows Rubio is leading with 40 percent of the vote. Murphy, the poll found, is at 37 percent.
